CAS begins looking at new budget

The early budget process is getting underway for Cheboygan Area Schools, which will devote a good portion of the next three months to balancing its budget.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

The early budget process is getting underway for Cheboygan Area Schools, which will devote a good portion of the next three months to balancing its budget.“We just had an administrative goal setting meeting, but we didn’t schedule any budget workshops yet,” said Mark Dombroski, CAS superintendent. “We still don’t know anything about what the state is going to do, so we’ll have to wait until we get that before we really get going on this.”From now until the June budget deadline, the district’s financial picture will be a topic of constant discussion. Despite the volumes of dialogue, it will be tough to come up with a specific budget in the very near future.Gov. Rick Snyder and Congress have to agree on the details of a budget before Michigan districts will know how much funding they will have for the coming year. Coming to a budget consensus has proven challenging in recent years. “I’m still thinking positive, that we’re going to be in good shape,” Dombroski said. “Even if we were to have to make reduction, I don’t think it would be to the extent it has been in the past.”In recent years, the state budget has been unkind to school districts. Cuts to education funding have become an accepted practice when balancing the state budget, resulting is districts scrambling to make essential cuts each spring.According to Dombroski, the barrage of cuts over the last several years have resulted in districts receiving a foundations allowance similar to what districts received in the mid 1990s. All the while expenses have grown exponentially.“Its still too early to even look at what we might have to do because we just don’t know right now,” Dombroski added. “We’re keeping a close eye on it.”